Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Funding your IRA

Just in the interests of cultural understanding, I should probably explain to US readers of the blog why it is that Irish people start laughing when the US pension system is described to them. I have a document in front of me that tells me that funding an IRA is a great way to save for retirement. You can even choose between the traditional IRA or a new type of IRA. I think after reading this literature for so long the urge to laugh every time I hear people talk about this has died down but only a little bit. The IRA to most Americans is, of course, the Individual Retirement Accounts that many people use to save for retirement. For most Irish people the IRA (Irish Republican Army) is a republican paramilitary organisation mainly based in the North of Ireland. So with very little imagination, you can have a great laugh reading glossy brochures warning you what might happen if you don't pay your IRA contributions or helping you choose the IRA that is right for you or looking through the IRA websites of large financial companies. And all the time remembering that no matter how old you are it's never too late to start making your IRA contributions!